Byron Todd Jones, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota, was leaving St. Paul police headquarters about two weeks ago when a longtime friend approached him.

“Congratulations,” the friend said, referring to President Barack Obama’s nominating Jones as full-time director of the beleaguered federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Oh, you mean sincere condolences,” quipped Jones, who has served as interim ATF director for nearly two years after the dustup over a gun-tracing operation in which hundreds of weapons crossed the U.S.-Mexican border. Two of them were found at the scene of the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

Perhaps sympathy cards are in order, for Jones must have rocks in his head even to consider heading the ATF these days. I don’t know if there is another top federal agency post more saddled by lingering controversies or political baggage.

ATF hasn’t had a full-time director since 2006, after Congress moved to require confirmation for the post. In the past, the president could appoint the director without Senate approval.

The agency already was under fire from gun-rights advocates who feel its mission is to further restrict gun-ownership rights. Then came the controversial Fast and Furious operation that prompted a highly partisan clash and led to Congress holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt, accusing him of withholding information from that body.

If Jones’ nomination already was in jeopardy, along came a blistering letter last week from a retired former head of the FBI’s Minneapolis office that was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Donald Oswald, who served as the office’s chief supervisory agent for a year, wrote that Jones “was, and still remains, a significant impediment for federal law enforcement to effectively protect the citizens of Minnesota from violent gang, drug and gun activities.”

In particular, Oswald called into question Jones’ decision to appoint Michelle Kayser, the daughter of a former law-firm mentor of Jones, to run the violent crime and drug division of the U.S. attorney’s office.

In addition to a lack of managerial experience and an “abrasive” style, Oswald wrote, Kayser’s unwillingness to prosecute some gun and drug cases at the federal level “is single-handedly responsible for the disenfranchisement and destruction of relationships between the U.S. attorney’s office and the federal agencies involved with guns and drugs.”

I know street cops and a law enforcement official intimately familiar with the federal prosecutor office who echoed those sentiments.

“Cops tend to be frustrated when they have a good case, say, of pounds and pounds of meth linked to a cartel and the case gets rejected and sent to the state (for prosecution),” said the official, who asked that his name be withheld. Kayser’s decisions have angered people, he said, but Jones has backed her up. “In the end, Todd cares about Todd.”

JONES ‘BEST I EVER WORKED FOR’

But Jones has plenty of defenders who believe the allegations are off base, personally motivated and inherently unfair. One of them is Ralph Boelter, former assistant FBI director in charge of counterterrorism.

Oswald succeeded Boelter, who ran the local FBI office for four years before he was promoted to the counterterrorism post in 2011.

“I was surprised at (Oswald’s) characterization of Todd Jones,” said Boelter, who supervised the agents working with prosecutors on the $3.6 billion fraud case against Tom Petters and the recruitment of local Somali youths to fight for an al Qaida-linked terrorist group in Somalia.

Boelter said the shift of prosecutorial priorities — from going predominantly after violent crimes and gangs to focus more on national security and economic crime cases — might explain some of the frustrations that have given rise to the criticisms.

“Todd and I had a great working relationship,” Boelter said. “I don’t know what motivated Oswald to … make these assertions.”

Retired federal prosecutor Paul Murphy worked under nine U.S. attorneys in Minnesota, Indiana and the U.S. Virgin Islands during his 29-year career. He described Jones as “the best I ever worked for.”

“He was a great manager who set goals and priorities and was clear about what he wanted,” said Murphy, who plans to send his own letter of support to the Senate committee.

“Even when I disagreed with him, he considered what you had to say but made his decisions based on the overall mission of the office,” added Murphy, who prosecuted major drug, violent crime and economic fraud cases during his more than 25 years in the Minneapolis office. “Economic crimes have a huge impact on the community. Times and priorities change and some people don’t like change, which is why I think the criticisms are over the top, to say the least.”

FAILED MILWAUKEE STING HIGHLIGHTED

Whether it’s fair or unfair, Jones is wearing a suit of Velcro right now. Anything ATF-related in a negative light is sticking to him as the hearings approach. And it got worse last week when Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, criticized Jones’ leadership in connection with a bungled undercover ATF sting operation in Milwaukee.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, ATF agents set up a store to buy guns and drugs from felons and thereby build cases against criminal rings. But instead of snaring bad guys, the nearly yearlong supposed sting led to an ATF military-style machine gun landing on the streets. The store also was burglarized of $35,000 in clothing and other merchandise before it was shut down.

Jones, under orders from Washington, is not commenting publicly until the confirmation hearings begin sometime at the end of this month or in March. But whether he wants the job or not, there is little doubt Jones is playing loyal Obama administration foot soldier to the end. Win or lose, he will brave the rigors of what promises to be another highly partisan nomination slugfest.

“He knows he’s inside a hornet’s nest,” said a close friend and confidante. “But he’s a former Marine who is not backing away from this and looking forward to defend himself.”

From smoking crack in a Harlem drug den for a front-page exposé to covering the deaths of 86 people in a Bronx social club fire, Rubén Rosario spent 11 years as a writer for the New York Daily News before joining the Pioneer Press in 1991 as special correspondent and city editor. He launched his award-winning column in 1997. He is by far the loudest writer in the newsroom over the phone.

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